Canceled: Obama backs out of North Carolina debate

posted at 5:10 pm on April 21, 2008 by Allahpundit

The official explanation: “time constraints and logistical issues.” The unofficial explanation: Team Barry didn’t want to give her a reason to stay in the race if she flames out tomorrow, which makes zero sense. If Indiana and North Carolina aren’t enough to make her soldier on to May 6th, the prospect of another debate won’t either. The real/obvious explanation: He can’t afford another beating. Your quote of the day, from the same hypocrites who knocked ABC for not giving them a chance to hear the two sound off on “substantive” issues: “No more debates!” I wonder, are the creme de la nutroots creme who signed this letter also cool with this last debate being canceled? How else are we going to reclaim the opportunity denied us by ABC to learn about their policy proposals, aside from visiting their websites or googling the transcripts of their previous 21 debates?

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Senator Obama is a man of no accomplishments, a man of no accomplishments other than getting elected to the United States Senate, and before that, to the Illinois State Senate. He’s done nothing, he has a wafer-thin legislative record, he wrote an autobiography about nothing.

So when you have such a man running for president, all you can tell about him are who he has chosen to spend his life with. He’s chosen to spend his life with this kind of yuppy play terrorist who led the Weather Underground, and the neo-segregationist, racist, ranter like Jeremiah Wright.

That’s really all we know about Barack Obama, and it’s entirely legitimate to ask him about it.

Thanks Tony, Limerick, Rushbaby and Entelechy! I’ve been around for a long time and used to comment often. Lately (due to an insane work schedule and the loss of my dear grandmother) I’ve been more of a lurker, but I just wanted to say it’s always nice to hear what you guys have to say.

Here at HA I’m actually provided with my small dose of sanity for the day after working all day with liberals who have nothing to say about Obama other than he’s the Manchurian Candidate of GWB, including a close friend who I’d previously believed to be rational. It’s SO frustrating…even if you think Dubya is awful, why would you go SO far to the left in protest? I’ve explained why BO’s an elitist, socialist and racist empty suit, but he just says it’s “much ado about nothing.” I ask why he likes BO so much, he says it’s his “charisma,” but has nothing factual. He doesn’t even seem to agree with any of Obama’s policies, it always just goes back to GWB. We actually had a little tiff today after I’d told him to get his head out of the sand.

I really think he’s relatively moderate, but he’s become a card-carrying rider of the Messiah Bandwagon and nothing seems to change his mind. I feel like we could save this one! Suggestions?

Further debates in the Democratic primaries make zero sense for Obama. Their purpose is to differentiate Obama and Hillary on substance. Tell me exactly what you have learned about that even during the last debate.

Clearly, Hillary has decided to destroy him and he tries to avoid that. Capital gain taxes are an important topic to any fiscally sane person but not to the Democrats. Hillary will not attack him not on that but on him being a black racist or a terrorist or something like that. Why would he give her an opportunity to do it? How should he respond?

Clearly, everyone here would love them to go at it. But it’s foolish to seriously expect them to fulfill every Republican’s dream.

Sorry, but no dice. This is Obama running from the press, and McCain was not looking at that strategy.

Hening on April 21, 2008 at 8:12 PM

In my opinion, it appears that McCain is almost as much of a socialist as Clinton and Obama. He just does a better job of disgusing it. But a 1-on-1 debate would have exposed him. No matter, it’s all good. It’s all going to work out in the end.

My sense is that Americans were OK with the mean, tough distracting questions. The question is, what is the effect in the coming primaries? The cancellation of the debate is a tacit admission of incompetence. This makes no difference to the children and true believers. But how many of them are there and how blindly true is their belief? The real core is only galvanized by ABC’s failure to fall in line. But how many are we talking about? The demographic peculiarities of Pennsylvania might make it difficult to learn much from tomarrow’s contest.

Wow, these guys want to run the country…wow…
I suspect some sarcasm in their flag pin giveaway…just a suspicion.
Next protest, we should offer the women a little hair care kit and just a little “freshening” up of the face…they all look like they’ve been sleeping with the trees.

Negotiations for a series of candidate debates between Democrat nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain have reached a stalemate in the aftermath of the recent party nominating conventions. Senator McCain has proposed a series of four nationally-televised debates, but Senator Obama has cited prior commitments on October 13, when he will be celebrating the landing of Columbus in the Dominican Republic, and October 24, when he will be celebrating United Nations Day with the UN delegations from Kenya and Indonesia, as well as September 27, when he will be attending the canonization ceremony for Saint Jeremiah Wright.

In response to Senator McCain’s suggestion that Senator Obama was avoiding debates, Senator Obama harshly chastised Senator McCain for declining a debate on September 11, due to McCain’s attending the memorial to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and Vice Presidential nominee Joe Lieberman’s refusal to debate Louis Farrakhan on October 9, due to Lieberman’s observance of the Jewish feast day of Yom Kippur.

Senator Obama has also limited the networks that will be allowed to moderate the debates, excluding ABC News and Fox News, because in his view, George Stephanopoulos and Brit Hume would ask personal questions which would distract from a discussion of the real issues of the campaign. Senator Obama has expressed his willingness to debate on MSNBC, but that debate had to be cancelled due to moderator Chris Matthews needing medical treatment for Restless Leg Syndrome.